


Love Always, Harry

by songbook



Category: Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: F/M, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 23:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songbook/pseuds/songbook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke, Sky, Rani, and Clyde come across some memories from Sarah Jane's past. Who is this Doctor Harry Sullivan?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Love Always, Harry

**Author's Note:**

> I fell in love with Harry Sullivan when I was watching Classic Who. And there aren't nearly enough fics about him. So here is one.

"I'm running out to the store to pick up a few things," said Sarah Jane as she finished taping a box. With a little bit of effort, she lifted it and put it outside the door of what was going to become Sky's room. "If you find something while I'm gone that you can't decide if it is something to keep or not, just set it to the side and I'll go through it later."

"I think we can handle it, Sarah Jane," said Clyde. He glanced in Rani's direction and shrugged. "Well, Sky, Luke, and I can. Rani keeps finding your old journals."

"They're interesting and educational." She didn't even look up from the journal in her hands.

"If you want them, they're yours." Sarah Jane smiled at the young aspiring journalist. "I won't be out long and I'll probably pick up something for dinner."

"Bye, Mum," came a muffled sound from the corner as Luke was trying to move a rather large box. Shaking, her head, Sarah Jane took her leave, shouting at K9 to keep an eye on everything while she was out.

Sky was sitting silently in a corner staring into a box. She tilted her head to the side, as if trying to work out a puzzle. "Luke? Sarah Jane's never been married, right?"

"No. Why?"

"Because there is a box of men's clothing."

"Well you know Sarah Jane. It was probably an old disguise," joked Clyde as he and Luke went over to investigate the young girl's curious find. Rani had even set down her newfound reading material.

"But it looks like a military uniform." Sky removed a hat with a Navy emblem on it.

"There may be a name on the label," suggest Rani. The older girl reached into the box to remove a jacket. It was a large dark blue double breasted coat. "Whoever this belonged to, they were in the Navy."

Sky finally found a label in the cap and read out loud, "Doctor H. Sullivan."

Clyde's eyes lit up. "Do you think this is the Doctor's old stuff?"

"No, he went by the name John Smith, remember? Plus, he would have never been in the military. Too many guns." Rani rolled her eyes at Clyde's gaffe. Sky had busied herself by putting the Navy cap on her head.

"This box belongs to him too, I think." Luke had opened the box next to the one Sky had discovered. "Look, pictures. Most of them have Mum in them. She looks young."

He showed them a picture of a young woman who was wearing a long green gown. There was no mistaking her identity. However, none of them recognized the dark haired man whose arm she was on. Rani took the picture from Luke and flipped it over.

_Harry and Sarah_

_UNIT Christmas Party 1980_

"Hey, I think this one has the Brigadier in it. See?" The photograph he held had two couples standing in front of a fireplace. Sarah Jane and the dark haired man from the previous picture were on the left, both of their faces lighting up with whatever was being said. The man, Harry, had his arm around her waist and she looked comfortable in the embrace. The other couple was older and when Clyde squinted, he could have sworn the man looked like Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. Sure enough, the handwriting on the back said:

_Sarah Jane and Harry_

_Alistair and Doris_

_1986_

"Some of these date into the nineties." Rani started pulling some of the pictures out of the cardboard box, but stopped when she noticed a rectangular wooden box on the bottom. It was simple. There was nothing spectacular about the box, but when she opened it, she gasped. "I think these are love letters from Sarah Jane to this Harry guy."

"Love letters? Like handwritten 'I'm so smitten with you' letters?"

"Yes, Clyde. Believe it or not people actually expressed their feelings on paper." Clyde rolled his eyes and reached out for the box, but Luke grabbed his arm.

"I don't think we should read those. They're private."

"They're old," said Clyde as if that was some kind of excuse. Seeing Rani and Luke's doubtful looks he added, "Anyway, this bloke isn't around anymore. So why does it matter?"

"I think I found something," said Sky quietly. She was holding two envelopes in her hands. Both were addressed to Sarah Jane Smith. The first had a return address for Harry Sullivan, but the other was from UNIT.

Rani took the letters from Sky and opened the UNIT envelope. She raised a hand to her mouth as she read it silently to herself. Hand shaking, she handed it to Luke who read, "Ms. Smith, UNIT regrets to inform you that Doctor H. Sullivan is missing in action and has been declared dead. It was in his wishes to have some of his possessions delivered to you upon his death..."

"He's dead? When?" Clyde grabbed the letter from Luke. "The eleventh of April, 2006."

"What does the other one say?"

Rani opened the other letter and began,

_"Sarah, if you're reading this, I'm probably dead and UNIT has delivered the things I wanted you to have. I know this will be hard to believe and in light of our lack of communication in the past few years, I know you will take my death hard. Sarah, everything has its time and everything must end. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love, my dear. And you and I know that better than anyone._

_"I regret sometimes that we couldn't work it out. But then I imagine that you are happy somewhere and I can live with the decision I made walking away. I'm asking you to live with it too. There was nothing we could do, Sarah. And I wouldn't change a day I had with you and if you want to dwell on any thoughts of me, think of those times, not the time we spent apart._

_"Some of the junk in these boxes are things that belonged to you in the first place. Others are just things I wanted you to have. The coat and hat were a last minute thought. I found an old picture of you with them on and thought maybe, if it's cold outside and you need a memory, you can wrap up in that coat like you used to. Sarah, please remember me fondly. I know I cherished every memory of you all these years since I left._

_"I have always loved you and always will. I wish you all the happiness in the universe. One more thing, old girl. Don't let what happened to us harden your heart. I got along just fine without you. I believe there are some things in life worth getting your heart broken for. And you, my dear, were one of them._

_Love always,_

_Harry."_

There was silence in the room as Rani finished reading. She was blinking back tears and Luke was studying the floor intently. Clyde just stood there with the letter from UNIT in his hand. Sky stuck her hand back into the box and pulled out something small and black. It seemed to be some sort of container. Along the black velvet she could see a dividing indention and a hinge. When Sky opened the small black box, Rani let out a noise that was a cross between a sob and a gasp.

"It's a ring," murmured Sky, mesmerized by the set of three petite diamonds on a silver band.

"That's no ordinary ring," said Clyde. "That's an engagement ring. Do you think that Sarah Jane was engaged to this Harry guy?"

"From the letter it seems they hadn't spoken in years." Luke reached out to take the ring from his sister.

"Should we ask her?" asked Sky. "And what is engaged?"

"It means you are promised to a person; that you're getting married to someone," came Sarah Jane's voice from the door. Clyde, Rani, and Luke jumped in surprise. Luke hastily snapped the ring box closed as the three tried to come up with words.

Sky didn't seem fazed by the appearance of her adoptive mother and cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "Were you 'engaged' then?"

A flicker of pain echoed across Sarah Jane's eyes as she glanced at the box in Luke's hand. "No. I was never engaged to Harry. He proposed twice and I told him no both times."

"Is that why he-oof-" Rani elbowed Clyde hard in the ribs.

"Left?" Finished Sarah Jane with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps. We fought like cats and dogs though."

"Cats and dogs?" asked Sky.

"She means they argued a lot. It's an expression," whispered Luke.

Sarah Jane nodded at her children. "Harry and I had a patent on 'complicated'. He travelled with me and the Doctor for a while. We both fell in love, only with different people."

"You don't have to explain," said Rani gently, sensing the sensitivity of the topic. "We shouldn't have gone through your stuff like this."

The older woman just laughed. "I wouldn't have asked you to help clean out this room if I didn't want you going through my things. And I do have to explain, because knowing you four, you won't stop looking for information until you know everything. It's best you hear it from me. When the Doctor and I parted ways, Harry was there to help me adjust to being stuck back on Earth. We dated off and on for a while."

"What happened?" asked Luke.

"I couldn't..." Sarah Jane stopped suddenly and swallowed. "I was bound and determined to do everything on my own. I would tell him I didn't need him and he would be better off with someone else. Next thing I knew, he would be there to pick up the pieces when life would fall apart again. And for a while, his love was all we needed. But I couldn't love him back. Not in the way he loved me. In the end, he finally took my words to heart and left. All I was doing was hurting him and he did what he had to do."

She stopped with a far off look on her face. Rani stepped forward and gave her a small hug. This seemed to bring Sarah Jane back to reality. With a forced smile, she returned the embrace. "Well, I know you lot have to be hungry. Dinner is downstairs."

The boys jumped for the door. Sarah Jane held out her hand for the ring box which Luke passed to her with a timid expression on her face. Rani gave her mentor a meaningful glance before following her friends. Sky bounded by her mother, but not before Sarah Jane managed to pluck the Navy cap from the young girl's head.

Placing the cap on her own head, she looked fondly at the ring in the box. With a resigned sigh, she walked over to its proper home. Rani had returned the box of letters into the box, but some of the pictures remained out. Slowly, Sarah Jane stacked them back into the box. Next came the old coat. She brought it up to her face, feeling the comfort of the material against her cheek and the scent of times gone by in her nose. She folded it and removed the cap from her head to place them both back into the box. Finally, she put the ring in there as well.

"Oh, Harry. I am happy now. The only thing that could make me happier in life is if you were here to share this with me. Isn't it like me to realize how much I loved you after you were gone?" She laughed bitterly to herself. "I miss you. And I love you."


	2. Once More

**Six Months Later**

Kate Stewart walked down the long hallway of her UNIT facility as her personal assistant, Andrew, rambled on about her schedule for the day. She only had two meetings today, which was good. She'd much rather be in a laboratory investigating the unknown the Universe had dropped on Earth's doorstep. It seemed today she would have the entire afternoon to do just that.

"Oh, and Ms. Stewart, there is a gentleman here to see you. I asked him to wait in your office." The dark eyes of her assistant of four years stared at her hesitantly. "He was part of Project M."

"Project M?" She stopped Andrew with a gentle hand to his chest. "I know they were finished, but I thought most of them chose to remain undercover, to go ahead and work on Project R?"

"Yes. The majority of them. Four or five chose to leave service. They were given new identities if they wanted them, but given permission to contact anyone they chose. Apparently, this man was asking about your father."

"Dad never mentioned knowing anyone in Project M."

Andrew just shrugged at Kate's confusion. "He may not have known. Project M was top secret up until a couple of weeks ago. Everyone on the project was declared dead."

Kate ran a hand through her blonde hair and sighed. "Well, let's go see what he has to say, shall we?"

Andrew just smiled at his boss as they resumed course back to her office. When she opened the door in anticipation of her mystery guest, a peppered haired man in his late fifties to early sixties rose from the chair in front of her desk. He was in an UNIT uniform and he gave her a soft smile and a nod when she entered.

"Hello, Ms. Stewart." He offered his hand which Kate reached out to take. "I'm Doctor Har-"

"Harry Sullivan." Finished Kate as she released the firm handshake. "I remember you."

"I wasn't sure you would remember me. It's probably been ten years since I saw you last."

Kate motioned for him to sit down and moved to her proper side of her desk. "Yes, well it may have been ten years for you, but I distinctly remember attending your funeral a few years ago."

A sheepish look crossed Harry's face. "Yes, well, duty called. Speaking of funerals, Ms. Stewart, I am very sorry to hear about your father. He was a good friend and an even better man. I'm sorry I couldn't have made it to the service."

"Thank you, Doctor. And please, call me Kate. I do recall that's what you used to call me."

"Yes, well for some reason I recall you refusing to answer to Kate for a long time. You couldn't have been more than eight and were insisting on being called 'Miss Katie' or 'Tiger'," replied Harry with a smile. Andrew coughed into his hand at an attempt to stifle a laugh. Harry raised an eyebrow at her assistant's mischievous smile. "I have a feeling, young man, that won't leave this room?"

"No, sir," coughed Andrew nervously.

It was Kate's turn to smile in amusement. "Yes, Dad came up with Tiger. He was good, there until the end. Doris was always with him and I came as much as possible. Though I figure he'll be a little peeved to find out you're not dead."

"I have a feeling I'll be getting a lecture when I finally do join him," chuckled Harry.

"So have you decided what you are going to do? I know all of you were offered a position on Project R. A good position."

"Yes, well I'm getting a little along in age, my dear." The old doctor sat back and crossed his hands in his lap. A serious look passed over his eyes. "I do think I would be bored to sit around and do nothing. You see, I have no living family. So I decided I probably wouldn't find retirement enjoyable on my own. There's only one person I need help finding and I thought your father would know where she was."

"You're looking for Aunt Sarah," said Kate gently. She could have cried at the look in the eyes of the old Navy Doctor at the mention of her name. There were years of pain and heartache on top of undying love in his eyes.

"Yes," he confirmed. "I just want to know how she is...I'll probably end up signing on for Project R if they'll still have me, but I can't make a decision until I make sure she's doing well."

Kate smiled back at him and turned to Andrew. "Clear my schedule for today. I'm going to Ealing."

"We're going now? Kate, don't misunderstand me, but I'm not sure she'll want to see me."

"Trust me, it'll be fine. Besides, I have an open invitation to drop in anytime."

"So she moved to Ealing?" he asked as he followed her out the door. "What is she up to these days?"

"Along with doing UNIT's job better than we do and getting into trouble for it, she keeps herself pretty busy. She's made herself into something of an extraterrestrial expert."

"Of course she has. Always investigating."

As they walked out to the garage and the valet pulled Kate's car around, she reached out to put a hand on his arm. "She's really doing fantastic. You'd be proud of her. I know Dad was."

"I was always proud of her."

They got into the car and Kate began to talk again. "A couple of years ago now, she adopted a boy, Luke. He's at University now. And then about seven or so months ago, she adopted a girl. Her name is Sky. I've only met her once. And goodness is she a handful."

Harry stared out the window at the passing cars. "I can't believe she has kids. But then, leave it to Sarah to constantly surprise me."

"She never did get married," added Kate. When he didn't react to the statement, she continued. "Of course, it's not like she just decided to have kids. They were more thrust upon her. You didn't hear this from me, but they may not be completely human. Naturally, Sarah took them in."

"They're alien?" asked Harry, clearly astonished. Then he shook his head with a small smile. "I don't know why that surprises me. It shouldn't. Not with her, not anymore."

"She's very protective of them. I'm close enough to family, but she's nervous about UNIT finding out about them. Luckily, I've pretty much taken care of that."

"Yes, I forgot to congratulate you on your position. Head of Scientific Research."

"Thank you. It took a long time, but I'm very happy now." Kate turned her attention to the road, leaving Harry to his own thoughts.

At Thirteen Bannerman Road, Luke Smith was home from University for a short break, so naturally, Clyde and Rani were in his kitchen after school. Sky was watching TV in the sitting room and Sarah Jane was upstairs finishing an article.

A knock on the door interrupted the laughter coming from the kitchen. Sky was the first to the door, but waited for her brother to open the door. Luke's face broke out in a grin as he recognized the woman on the other side.

"Ms. Kate!" Kate held open her arms to embrace the young man.

"Hello Luke." Glancing through the door she added, "And Sky, Rani, and Clyde. Is your mother home?"

"Yes, I'm here," called Sarah Jane as she came down the stairs. "Kate! Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"Hello, Aunt Sarah." The two exchanged a hug, both beaming. "Come in, come in."

"Actually, I was going to take the kids out to dinner and maybe a movie."

"Really? Awesome!" exclaimed Clyde.

Kate laughed and looked back at Sarah Jane. "I thought I could get them out of the house, because I brought you something. Well, I brought you someone."

"Someone?" Sarah Jane's face turned from excitement to confusion. Kate moved to the side and pointed to the driveway. Leaning against the car was a man from her past.

A man with grey in his once dark and curly hair; the UNIT uniform that reminded her so much of the old days; and eyes so deep in love. As Harry Sullivan started to walk toward her front door, she raised a hand to her mouth to suppress the sob. Still staring at him, she managed to say, "He's dead..."

"Actually, funny you should say that. He's been on an undercover assignment. They just exagerated his death a bit." Kate put a hand on Sarah Jane's back to steady the now shaking woman. "He's alive and very much here. I promise."

Harry slid the UNIT cap off his head nervously as he got closer. "Hello, Sarah."

"It's you..." she whispered. Reaching out a tentative hand, she touched the side of his face. Harry's eyes never left hers as he reached up to meet her hand with his own. She was shaking with shock, but the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes could not mask her happiness. "You're alive. Oh, you are really here."

"Sarah, I-"

Before he could formulate the words he planned to say, Sarah Jane had pushed herself up on the tips of her toes to press her lips against his. He reacted instantly, pulling her close with his arms around her. Tears were streaming down her face when she ended the kiss and she buried her head into his chest.

"I thought you were dead, you idiot." The words were muffled and tearful, but her fist was forceful when it made contact with his chest. Harry flinched but hid his smile in her hair. She could rage all she wanted, for right now, she still fit perfectly against him. Her hands were clinging to the lapels of his coat and he had his arms around her small body like no time had passed.

"Sarah...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..." Harry whispered over and over again into her ear. He could care less about the four curious kids and the Cheshire-like smile on Kate's face, because he was holding Sarah Jane again.

"You'd better be sorry." Sarah Jane stepped back a little and shoved him half heartedly. "Do you know how long I spent trying to figure out if I had gotten you killed or not?"

"I told you not to-"

Sarah Jane quickly interrupted. "I know what you told me! That bloody letter! And stop smiling at me like that. I'm so angry..." She choked on whatever she was going to say, tears still staining her face. Harry kept smiling and ran his thumb along her cheek, clearing it of wetness.

"And you have every right to be..."

"Of course I have every right to...Oh, Harry." She pulled him close again as if she couldn't decide if she truly was angry or overjoyed on the prospect that he was in fact alive and well. "You're here...alive..."

"Wait a minute. He's that guy...the one...but he's dead," muttered Clyde.

Rani rolled her eyes as Luke laughed. "Catch up will you? We figured that out when he walked up."

"That doesn't explain how he is really alive," said Sky in Clyde's defense. Sarah Jane turned to face her children, wiping away tears.

"I was asked to join a special team and I fit the requirements. I had no immediate family and nothing to lose. They needed a medical doctor and I had nothing holding me back. Part of the job was to go undercover, so we were declared dead and given new identities," explained Harry, mainly to Sarah Jane who was still clutching his arm.

Shaking her head she motioned toward the group in front of her. "Harry, meet my son Luke and daughter Sky and their friends Clyde and Rani. Everyone, this is Harry Sullivan."

Luke reached out his hand to the older man who nervously accepted. Kate gave Sarah Jane a hug as the group introduced themselves. "Thank you, Kate. I can't even say..."

"He was trying to find Dad, so they sent him to me. Apparently, he figured the fastest way to find you would be through him. I'm just glad I could help." She turned back to Luke, Sky, Rani, and Clyde. "Come on gang. Let's go out and leave these two to catch up."

"Don't we get to interrogate him?" joked Clyde, earning a nod from Luke.

"I have a feeling that you'll have plenty of time to ask him anything you like," smiled Kate. She herded the group towards her car. "What do you want for dinner?"

Harry and Sarah Jane watched them leave and turned back to smile at each other. "Come in. I'll make us something to eat."

"So, kids and you learned to cook? I realize I haven't seen you in a while, but I feel like I missed something huge."

"No. Just kids," she smirked at his smart comment. "Though I haven't burnt down the kitchen in several weeks now. Maybe you'll get more than you bargained for tonight."

"Old girl, you could burn down the entire house and I wouldn't care as long as I get to hold you again," he replied as he shut the door behind him. Sarah Jane scoffed, but could hardly put on an irritated face as she smiled.

"That depends. Is it just for tonight? Or do you have to go back to UNIT?"

Her question surprised him. Removing his coat, he stared seriously back at her. "I've been offered another position. It would be undercover again."

She swallowed and took his hand. "What could I say to make you stay? Here, with me?"

"Nothing." A strange look crossed her eyes as pain, shock, and heartbreak echoed through them. She dropped his hand and was turning away when his fingers brushed her jaw line, turning her head back to him. "Just kiss me."

Their lips met for the second time, only this time with urgency and an unbridled passion. He fell in love with her the day he met her. Every adventure, watching her run after the Doctor had killed him. That's why he left the first time. But he didn't hesitate to drop everything to drive all night to pick her up when the Doctor left her in Aberdeen and the only person she could think to call was him. He tried so hard to patch up her broken heart for so long. He had always loved her. Surely it was greater than how she felt about the Doctor. The ups and downs; the sleepless nights; the bitter fights. Oh, they fought.

But right now, holding her again, it was as if he was seeing her thirty years ago. There she was, laughing in the TARDIS, screaming on some God-forsaken planet, and teasing him with a wicked smile. All the times they had tried to make it work and all the times it ended with tears. But it didn't matter because fate kept bringing them back together and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't love anyone the way her loved her.

So here they were, Harry and Sarah. When the need for oxygen finally won out and they remained breathless, pressed against each other standing in Sarah Jane's hallway, she said the words he had yearned to hear for so long.

"I love you." There was no catch in her voice. No hesitation. There was sincerity in her eyes. "I need you, Harry. Please don't leave me again."

"We're absolutely insane, aren't we?" he chuckled. "How in the world do we think we can work it out now? We're not exactly young."

Her laughter was music to his ears. "Maybe that's the point. Maybe it only took me thirty years to figure out it was you. It was always you. And I was the fool. I mean it, Harry, I love you. The moment they told me you were dead, my heart decided to figure out how it really felt."

"Well, if dying was all it took, I should have thought of that years ago." Harry kissed the top of her head. "Come on, old girl. We have a lot to catch up on. And I'm going to cook. I find it hard to believe you actually learned to handle a stove or oven. Aliens trying to kill you, no problem. If only they knew all they had to do was make you boil noodles, you'd be done for."

"So you're going to stay?" She had her arm hooked through his as she led him to the kitchen.

"Sarah Jane Smith, how many times do I have to tell you that I love you more than anything this Universe has to offer?"

"Once more..." she murmured as he leaned in to kiss her once more.


End file.
